A bulk box commonly comprises a base panel and four side panels assembled together to form a container. The panels usually are made of plastic material and individually formed in a molding process. Mating members (e.g., slots and hooks) usually are provided on the panels so that they may be assembled together easily without the use of tools or other equipment.
Bulk boxes typically are filled with goods at a warehouse location and then transported to a distribution location. At the distribution location, the goods are unpacked from the bulk boxes and placed in hoppers, shelf boxes, or similar containers arranged in a flow racking system. The bulk boxes usually are then returned to the warehouse location either empty or perhaps filled with goods from the distribution location. If the bulk boxes are empty and space minimization is desirable, the bulk boxes will be disassembled for the return trip.
The transportation of the bulk boxes between the warehouse location and the distribution location often is accomplished with a truck, whereby space-optimization within the truck's trailer may be important. Also, or in any event, the bulk boxes should be capable of being loaded or unloaded with standard equipment (i.e., a forklift) and thus must be compatible therewith. Furthermore, at the warehouse location, within the transporting trucks, and/or at the distribution location, footprint concerns are often quite significant, whereby the ability to safely stack a plurality of bulk boxes can be essential.
Accordingly, a bulk box design preferably includes a construction that can be initially assembled without tools, is forklift-tine compatible, is sized to optimize truck trailer space, allows a plurality of boxes to be safely stacked, and/or can be assembled and disassembled selectively. Moreover, when bulk boxes are used to ship relatively heavy goods, the panels must have sufficient structural strengths to withstand the strain of the combined weight of the goods. This commonly is accomplished by causing the panels to incorporate structural members (e.g., metal bars or wooden rods) to increase stiffness. Additionally or alternatively, the construction of the bulk box and/or the panels must be such that stacking stability is not sacrificed even with heavy loads and/or at high stacking heights.